The present invention generally relates to a transparent protective cover member for a vehicle license plate and more particularly to a novel construction for such cover member exhibiting distinctive performance advantages when mounted on the vehicle.
Commonly employed vehicle license plate covers enabling visual observation of the license plate disposed thereunder are now constructed having a generally rectangular physical configuration and with each major surface residing in a single flat plane. Such cover members can be formed with various visually transparent materials such as glass compositions or synthetic organic polymers to permit quick identification of the underlying license plate as required under existing motor vehicle laws. A wide assortment of such flat face cover members has also long been known frequently involving a rather complex physical construction as well as requiring multiple diverse component parts. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,807,899 discloses a license cover assembly comprising a transparent housing member enclosing the license plate with both front and rear flat faces. A still more recently issued U.S. Pat. No. 4,956,930 discloses a license cover assembly employing a plurality of movable transparent flat planar vanes which when closed (see FIG. 6) completely overlies the license plate disposed thereunder while still permitting its visual observation. In still more recently issued U.S. Pat. No. 313,787 there is disclosed a presumably transparent vehicle license plate cover member mounted in a peripherally oriented frame which has an outwardly projecting curved shape joined to the protruding flat side faces.
All of said prior art protective license cover means exhibit significant performance drawbacks for a moving vehicle. The current emphasis in automotive vehicle design to focus on aerodynamic considerations has caused the exterior frame or body of the vehicle to become streamlined in order to reduce drag when the vehicle is in motion. Accordingly, having the cover member itself or parts of the cover assembly project outwardly from the exterior vehicle body can produce undue air turbulence and thereby reduce aerodynamic performance of the vehicle. From a dissimilar consideration, the visual observation of a vehicle license plate when enclosed by a cover member having flat major surfaces can become subject to considerable glare from the light being reflected back off these cover surfaces. Since the existing motor vehicle laws require vehicle identification to be maintained both day and night whenever vehicles are traveling on public highways, any excessive glare being emitted from the prior art license plate cover members could actually prevent compliance with these laws. Modification of the existing protective cover means to significantly reduce or virtually eliminate both of these drawbacks still remains a desirable objective.
It is one object of the present invention, therefore, to provide novel vehicle license plate cover means enhancing aerodynamic operation of the vehicle while also reducing glare when viewing the covered license plate.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such novel vehicle license plate cover means having a single member unitary construction.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a novel vehicle license plate cover assembly employing the present cover member for combination with mounting means secured to the vehicle body.
These and still further objects of the present invention will become apparent upon considering the following more detailed description of the present invention.